Sister Cities Hit 50

August 10, 2006

At a time when America's foreign policy is not winning unanimous approval, it might be good to tip our hats to an organization that is celebrating a half-century of promoting mutual respect and understanding around the world.

Sister Cities International was founded in 1956 by President Dwight Eisenhower in the hope that cities here would create and sustain relationships with cities abroad. Ike's ``citizen diplomacy'' initiative has worked beyond expectations. Countless thousands of U.S. citizens have made friends around the globe via Sister Cities.

The relationships built through Sister Cities have resulted in such things as fundraising and the creation of the statute of Samuel Stone, a co-founder of Hartford and native of Hertford; a golf tournament, the Kennedy Cup, with New Ross; a baseball tourney with Caguas; the development of Columbus Park with Floridia; and educational exchanges and countless new friendships.

``The program goes a long way toward helping us all,'' said Brian R. Smith, a downtown lawyer and president of the Hartford chapter. He said his organization is planning a celebration of Hartford's Sister City program this winter. It is well worth celebrating.

``Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness,'' our own Mark Twain said, and Sister Cities has done yeoman work to broaden the view of people around the world.